A lorry entering North Shields was found to contain 19 Albanians and a Syrian when Border Force officers stopped and searched it.

They had been put on the truck by a gang of human traffickers who were making money out of misery while flouting UK immigration laws.

Now organiser Ferdinand Gjolla has been jailed for eight years, lorry driver Marek Niedzwiecki got five years and helper Armand Mekolii three years and three months after a jury convicted them of a people smuggling conspiracy worth an estimated £140,000.

A judge at Newcastle Crown Court said deterrent sentences were necessary to try to stop others getting involved in the “appalling but profitable trade”.

Judge Sarah Mallett told them: “The offence of conspiracy calls for a deterrent sentence since the problem in immigration control is a substantial one that causes considerable public concern.

“There is no suggestion it had any humanitarian aspect to it. All involved with it were motivated by profit.

“Immigration controls were being circumvented and that is damaging nationally but it also involved the exploitation of those in dangerous, vulnerable and distressing circumstances.

“There is a necessity to deter others from becoming involved in what can be extremely lucrative.

“The sentence I impose will be substantial to punish but also to deter others from getting involved in this appalling but profitable trade.”

Niedzwiecki, 33, told investigators he had travelled from Rimini in Italy, through Luxembourg, Belgium and Rotterdam to the Netherlands, then on to the UK.

Niedzwiecki conspired with Albanian nationals Gjolla, 41, who is now a British citizen, and Mekolli, 30, to facilitate unlawful entry into the UK.

All three men pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiracy to facilitate a breach of immigration law but were found guilty. Mekolli also admitted possessing a National Insurance card under a false name and possessing a Greek driving licence with improper intent.

The court heard the Albanian nationals found in the lorry were deported almost immediately but the Syrian man claimed asylum in the UK due to the troubles in his homeland.

The man told investigators he had travelled from Syria through Europe to try to reach his wife in Britain. He said he initially stayed around Calais in France but then a friend advised him to travel to Belgium, where he met some Albanians and was taken to the Netherlands, where he and the others were put in the lorry in a “quiet area”.

The court heard lorry driver Niedzwiecki was carrying seven mobile phone sim cards when he was arrested at the North Shields port.

There had been a meeting in Bracknell, Essex, where arrangements were made between Niedzwiecki and Gjolla just over a week before the illegal cargo of people was brought into the UK.

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Gjolla travelled to the Netherlands from his home in Yorkshire two days before the ferry set sail, to set up the smuggling.

Records show one of the Albanian immigrants, who was carrying a mobile phone when he was caught, had been in contact with a phone linked to Gjolla.

Prosecutors said Gjolla and Mekolli, both of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, travelled to Cramlington on the morning the ferry arrived at North Shields and that the mobile phone of Mekolli, of no fixed address, contacted Niedzwiecki’s phone at around the time the vessel was due in the UK.

Defence barristers said it was a one-off and that the trio have no previous convictions.

After the case, Rachael Luther, from the Immigration Enforcement Criminal Investigations team, said: “This was a well-run organised crime group motivated by money. Their sole aim was to breach the UK’s immigration controls and bring people into the UK illegally.

“The sentences should serve as a warning to anyone tempted to get involved in the vile trade of people smuggling. We will catch you, and put you before the courts.